Hen Tor

Hen Tor - SX 594653 is a brooding, often darkish tor that has a remarkable set of granite clitter that streams down the hillside of Lee Moor towards the plain below. The name is said to derive from a specially shaped rock that is supposed to resemble a hen. More likely, it comes from a corruption of Hinter or Inter which means the middle tor along the hillside and certainly the tor is rather isolated along the hillside. We approach Hentor via the Trowlesworthy tors which are notable for the variety of prehistoric remains that lie on their southern slopes as well as remains of the more modern Dartmoor industries of granite quarrying and rabbit warrening.

Park at the large car park beside Cadover Bridge (SX 555648). Take the road that leads up to Trowlesworthy Warren Farm - this is also used by vehicles going to the nearby clay works. Go past the farm and head for the Trowlesworthy tors. In good weather the way towards Hen Tor is obvious. The ground is quite good although as you approach Hen Tor the bracken covered clitter could be awkward in the summer. Return the way you came but take the southerly slopes of Trowlesworthy if you want to see the Bronze age remains.

A straightforward walk of about 5 miles. The ground is easy with only one easily avoided patch of wet ground around Spanish Lake. No military areas.

	Cadover Bridge - SX 555648. There used to be a clapper bridge over this ford on the Plym river. Today it carries the busyish Cornwood to Yelverton road. Cadover may derive from the older English word Caed that meant "battle site".
	This is where the Plym and the Blacka Brook meet.
	Looking back down the farmtrack.
	The west view from halfway up to Trowlesworthy.
	Getting near to Little Trowlesworthy Tor through the assemblage of clitter and Bronze age remains that are gathered here.
	Little Trowlesworthy Tor. You can see from this photo that a lot of quarrying has been done here. Trowlesworthy has an unusual pink granite.
	Hen Tor from Little Trowlesworthy. It does look rather isolated doesn't it?
	Little Trowlesworthy Tor.
	Another view of Little Trowlesworthy Tor.
	A cylinder of pink granite that was carved to make a large flagpole to celebrate Devonport's independence from Plymouth in the 1820's. The project was never completed, and Devonport remains a part of Plymouth and so the block still rests here halfway between the two Trowlesworthy tors.
	Another example of the extensive granite cutting that has occured here over the years. For what failed project was this block fashioned?
	The edge of Great Trowlesworthy with Shell Top on the horizon and Spanish Lake stream snaking up towards its head. Spanish Lake is a strange name for a Dartmoor stream especially when in medieval times it was known as Eastor Brook. One story has it that on the eve of the Spanish Armada, nervous people hurried up to the stream head to bury their valuables beneath the peat. No treasure has been found, but Dartmoor peat is pretty acidic.
	Approaching Hen Tor.
	Crossing the Willa (or Hen Tor) brook.
	Hen Tor. In the summer walking over this bracken hidden clitter would not be much fun.
	View from beside Hen Tor.
	The broken rocks of Hen Tor.
	One of the stacks of Hen Tor.
	Does this rock look like a hen's head?
	Looking north west from Hen Tor.
	A closer look towards Ditsworthy.
	A boundary stone for Hen Tor Warren at SX 585645. The stone is inscribed HWB2 and was one of the marker stones that delineated the bounds of Hentor Warren. The stone was erected in 1807 and was the result of an agreement between Lord Boringdon and Peter Nicholls (the warrener).
	A Reave - one of the many Bronze Age land boundary markers that stretch over parts of Dartmoor.
	Great Trowlesworthy Tor (or Eastorre as it used to be known).
	Looking over the Cholwich Town clayworks from Trowlesworthy.
	Stone row south of Great Trowlesworthy Tor.
	A closer look at the stone circle at end of the stone row. This circle is sometimes known as the Pulpit.
	The ruins of a recentish 2 roomed building within one of the Bronze age huts.
	One of the remains of the Bronze Age settlements south of Trowlesworthy. We're looking at one of the hut remains, there's another behind and behind that again lies the perimeter wall of the enclosure. There are 13 enclosures like this around Trowlesworthy although this is one of the more impressive ones.
	A vermin trap. This was an X shaped row of boulders that helped to funnel rodents into a central area within which the trap was based. Unfortunately, the trap is now longer there but it was probably a contraption of granite base stones and slate shutters that snapped shut once the victim was inside. We are looking direct at where the trap would have been. The trap was built into the perimeter wall of one of the enclosures.
	A track leading up to the Trowlesworthy Tors.
	An old rabbit burrow just outside the farm entrance - what the OS calls "pillow mounds". Burrows were made of piles of stones, covered with earth and a trench dug around them to maintain drainage. Within a burrow would live lots of rabbits.
	Trowlesworthy Warren farm. This is an active farm that now has little to do with rabbits but a lot to do with horses.
	The path back to Cadover Bridge.